1
as in clumsy
difficult to use or operate especially because of size, weight, or design
getting the ungainly couch up the stairs was a real chore
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in awkward
having or showing an inability to move in a graceful manner
the tree cutter was crushing any unlucky petunias that lay in the path of his ungainly tread
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ungainly
Unfortunately, such spaciousness has long come at a price that includes ungainly styling, severely narrow staterooms in the outer hulls, and squirrely handling on big seas—not to mention a lack of compatibility with many marina slips due to the form’s bulky proportions.
—
Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 4 Aug. 2024
The hagiography of the Arena brand doesn’t always fit in with the rest of ESPN’s programming, which is an ungainly mix of live sports, commercials for sports gambling and news reports on the damaging impact of sports gambling on live sports.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 July 2024
In 2022, the Albany Dems bypassed the IRC and drew an ugly ungainly district running around the shores of the Long Island Sound from Suffolk across Nassau, Queens, the Bronx and Westchester all the way to the Connecticut border, an unconstitutional gerrymander.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 15 Feb. 2024
This is an ungainly and unpalatable status quo, especially given the litany of war crimes perpetrated by Assad’s regime, but the further consolidation of power under Assad would still be worse for the people living in Syria’s northwest.
—Jeremy Konyndyk, Foreign Affairs, 21 Mar. 2023
See all Example Sentences for ungainly 
Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 4 Aug. 2024
The hagiography of the Arena brand doesn’t always fit in with the rest of ESPN’s programming, which is an ungainly mix of live sports, commercials for sports gambling and news reports on the damaging impact of sports gambling on live sports.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 July 2024
In 2022, the Albany Dems bypassed the IRC and drew an ugly ungainly district running around the shores of the Long Island Sound from Suffolk across Nassau, Queens, the Bronx and Westchester all the way to the Connecticut border, an unconstitutional gerrymander.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 15 Feb. 2024
This is an ungainly and unpalatable status quo, especially given the litany of war crimes perpetrated by Assad’s regime, but the further consolidation of power under Assad would still be worse for the people living in Syria’s northwest.
—Jeremy Konyndyk, Foreign Affairs, 21 Mar. 2023
See all Example Sentences for ungainly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungainly
Adjective
-
Relentless, hi-def gore is The Monkey’s greatest achievement, but all the blood-spatter in the world couldn’t redeem its clumsy plotting, frat-boy humor, and feigned memento mori.—
Madison Bloom,
Pitchfork,
7 Feb. 2025
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Game to game, characters like the speedy Pete Wheeler or clumsy Angela Delvecchio were true to their traits across each release.—
Jake Lang,
Rolling Stone,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Comfortable familiarity and an awkward desire to escape co-exist like the two quotes at the start, both true in incongruous harmony.—
David Opie,
IndieWire,
18 Feb. 2025
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Where some toiletry bags end up having an awkward shape that won’t easily fit into your luggage, these are the opposite.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
18 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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One thing German writer-director Tom Tykwer has never lacked is ambition, evidenced by his willingness to tackle sprawling, thematically unwieldy literary source material like Cloud Atlas and A Hologram for the King.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
13 Feb. 2025
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In modern cars that handle increasingly complex tasks, those domains have led to redundant connections from power sources to electronic control units (ECUs), and an unwieldy octopus of wiring that stretches to all four corners of the vehicle.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
As Andy Kaufman, Nicholas Braun has just the right gawky awkwardness, and his brief, odd, mostly silent appearances in the first half of the film delightfully pay off near the climax.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 Sep. 2024
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All the money her father had left them was put toward his daughters’ private education, but she was ostracized by wealthy classmates who bullied her for being too poor, too gawky and too dark-skinned.—
Kyle Buchanan,
New York Times,
2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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For starters, Hamas’s military leaders were hiding in Gaza, making communications with them cumbersome.—
Shane Harris,
The Atlantic,
17 Jan. 2025
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Use Automated Tools Manually tracking permissions and controls is incredibly cumbersome and error-prone.—
Rita Gurevich,
Forbes,
13 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
As an aerodynamics engineer specializing in aeroelastic and unsteady flows, Atlee provided key technical contributions to the original F-16 design that helped define the way that jet looks and flies.—
Shambhavi Rimal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 Feb. 2025
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Most places extending radical hospitality are doing it out of pocket or through an unsteady stream of donations, and the truth is: No one can afford it.—
Tejal Rao,
New York Times,
18 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Beecher just cannot finish - nor Zacha, nor Wahlstrom ..... 63 played like the tired uncoordinated Marchy of the first 20 games, not the Aderall Marchy of his 6 game scoring streak.—
Fluto Shinzawa,
The Athletic,
9 Jan. 2025
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Ultimately, however, the future of the greenback as an international currency will largely be determined by the collective choices of uncoordinated private actors, most of whom will be impossible to identify.—
Jonathan Kirshner,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near ungainly
Cite this Entry
“Ungainly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungainly. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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